My First Drill

I came across this paper I wrote about 5 years ago.  I don't know if I ever posted it - I don't believe so.  I wish I was better at journallng, but would like my children and grandchildren to know a little about me and my life, so I'm inserting it here, to be recorded as part of my journal.  One of these days I'll catch up on posts as well.  It has been a busy year for me working full-time as a long-term 4th grade teacher; which looks like it will continue through the end of the school year.Trevor is doing well on his mission and his language seems to be coming right along after 4 months.  Spencer is getting closer and closer to graduation in June and Ken and I are closer to becoming empty nesters - not sure if I'm happy or sad about that  (a little of both).  Mostly it will just be a new adventure and adjustment in our life that we will weather together.

MY FIRST DRILL

I grew up in a country home.  Even though my dad was considered a blue-collar worker, we lived in a farming community.  My dad was the Agricultural teacher at the high school.  He taught young men how to fix cars, how to build houses, how to grow vegetables, and how to raise and slaughter animals for food.  After work we would feed the horse and pigs in our backyard.  Sometimes we went to the fields my dad tended.  My siblings and I experienced lots of different things in our small, religious farming community of 300 people.  It seemed to me my dad could do anything.  He was a gruff but loving man.  He was a big man, but he was fast.  My brothers learned real quick that big did not mean slow.  My dad taught us to race. The annual 4^th of July races were one of the highlights of the year.  We practiced and trained for those races.  We were proud to be recipients of the 1^st place "quarter" year after year.  We enjoyed a carefree childhood of roaming the streets, swimming in “The Falls”, playing hide-n-seek with the neighborhood kids, and of course learning how to work.

            When I was eight years old life drastically changed.  My dad decided it was time to get his Doctorate of Education.  He packed up our family and moved us across country from Nevada to Ohio.  Life was different in the city.  We had to get use to lots of new things.  The closest church was 30 minutes away.  My siblings and I were the only members of our religion in our school.  We were exposed to a different world.  It was difficult being away from friends and family, but we persevered.  My dad was still a country boy.  One day he brought home a bunch of chickens to be killed, plucked and cleaned.  It was quite a sight all those chickens running around with their heads cut off and my little brothers chasing after them.  We made new friends and life went on.  Soon two years was up and my dad graduated.  It was time to move back west.  Hooray - aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents – time to go home. 

We went back to our little country town, but that only lasted a few weeks.  My dad found a job in the city.  We bought a house and moved.  When we registered for school we learned I would be bussed across town.  Our city was beginning a new integration program.  The black kids would be bussed across to the mostly white side of town for 1^st through 5^th grade and the white kids would be bussed to special 6^th grade centers on the west side of town.  Gone were the carefree days of my younger years.  Although I had friends of all colors I now knew about racism, a new concept for me.

            Life continued to change in the city; more people, more opportunities.  High school brought challenges and a few successes.  My dad was still my hero.  I remember for one youth activity he cooked a whole pig with eyeballs and all.  It seemed all the kids liked my dad.  My friends and I would wait on the outskirts of gatherings so that when it was time to divide into cars we could be the first to my dad’s car.

            I remember one day when I was in high school and was a little rebellious, my dad pulled me aside and with tears in his eyes he told me he was worried that my mom would have a nervous breakdown and asked me to be more kind and patient with her.  My parents never fought.  They were not very affectionate in front of us, but we knew they loved each other a great deal.

            I learned many things from my dad about love, service and hard work.  My dad was hardly ever sick.  He hardly ever sat and watched television.  He was a do-er.  Occasionally my mom would tell me you’re just like your dad.  I thought this was a great compliment.

            My first few months away at college were difficult.  I was dealing with a lot of personal stuff, finding out college was harder than I expected, and a little homesickness as well.  One week the end of October my mom called to say my dad was sick and they took him to the hospital.  Over the next few days he continued to get worse and they put him in intensive care.  The doctors could not figure out what was wrong.  Miraculously he started to improve and they thought he would be home by the end of the week.  I knew someone going home that weekend so I decided to go home to help out with my younger brothers while my mom was at the hospital.  I saw my dad on Saturday and he looked good.  Sunday morning before church I stopped by to see him.  He didn’t look well and he was having a difficult time.  As I left he called out to me, “I love you, Vera”.  This was very unusual for him to say.  It meant a lot to me.  I went home and took my younger brothers to church, then went home and made dinner.  As we sat down to eat I heard my brother come in and I turned around, saw his face, and I knew.  MY DAD WAS GONE!

            Life was different without my dad.  There were many difficult days the first few years.  We all learned to go on and we drew closer together as a family.

            Soon I married a great man, but he was a city boy – not the country boy I was use to.  I tried to instill in him a desire to be a fix-it man like my dad, but it just didn’t work.  One day I said to a friend I wish my husband would let me buy him tools, but he just doesn’t want them.  A few months later on my birthday I opened a beautiful gift to find – my drill!  I realized that I was the one who wanted tools, why couldn’t I learn to use them, so I did.  I now have several kinds of saws, a router, many other tools, and of course my first drill.  I don’t think my friend realized that the gift she was giving me would mean so much, but I love tools.  It let me know that I can do whatever I want to do and in some small ways it helps me to know that I’m still daddy’s girl.

Summer Almost Gone

The past few weeks have been packed with activities and mostly traveling.
Beginning July 20th we headed to Provo to have Trevor's wisdom teeth removed.  It was a quick trip and quite enlightening.  Trevor needed two regular teeth removed, plus his wisdom teeth.  After the xrays they found he only had 1 wisdom tooth that was even in his mouth.  so that meant 3 teeth removed instead of 6 :).  After the surgery which took all of 15 minutes; the real fun began.  Trevor was very out of it and we had to head to Walmart to get some groceries and pick up his perscriptions.  He was very unstable so we had him drive one of their electric carts.  The first thing he did was try to help drive and ran into some shelves.  As he became more alert he found he loved the cart and enjoyed backing up with the beeps and going in circles, often blocking the isles.  He was also very helpful by adding things to the cart as we went; especially any BYU paraphanelia?? he found.   We were glad to get in the car and head home.  He did well on the trip home, but had a very rough night and alot of pain over the next week.  So you know he was really out of it, we stopped in Delta at Hogi Yogi and he lamented he hadn't had their ice cream in a long time.  Spencer said you had it on the way home from the dentist - he was so made he couldn't remember it at all.

Driving his cart through Walmart

On Monday evening I headed to Arizona for my good friend Pam Williamson's funeral. I drove as far as Vegas and then on the next morning. It was also Richie's bday so I picked him and Kamry up from the babysitter and we went to lunch. Then I tired him out so much shopping that he didn't even want to go get ice cream. The heat really takes it out of you.

Happy 5th Birthday Richie!

Pam was the Relief Society President in Florence, AZ that I worked under and we became good friends. She has had a lot of health problems in her life, but has always been a fighter. She taught me many things about serving in the church and about how much she loved her family. She was amazing and we will all miss her.

Here she is with some of her granchidlren

The next day I drove straight home to prepare for a planned road trip with Cammie. We took off early thursday and drove to Colorado where we spent the night with Chelsea (and Gavin). Then drove the next day to Danette's house in Gallatin, Missouri. She and her family moved there the beginning of the summer. Her daughter Emma was getting baptized and Danette also was getting rebaptized. It was quite an experience. The baptism was wonderful, they had a few issues with the font and the plug wasn't holding so when they went to check before most of the water had leaked out, so they put the plug in and turned the water back on - problem water comes out very hot and has only one valve. They finally got enough water to make it work. Emma was to get baptized first, but she was really nervous - she doesn't like going under water and the water was hot. So they had Danette go first. Then it was Emma's turn I knew she was so nervous, I was afraid her feet would come up and they did - after tears they went for round 2 this time Lyndsey tried to step on her feet, but he didn't quite get the top of her head under - then round 3 feet up again - by this time she is very upset. She takes a bathroom break and comes back Round 4 a no go again and finally Round 5 with her mom holding her feet down and Lyndsey the front she is officially baptized. for one scared little girl it was quite an ordeal, while waiting for the 2nd one Danette began singing I am a Child of God and others joined in and you could feel the spirit calming her down. It was wonderful to see them all working together for the good of their little family (even a blended family).

We enjoyed two days with Danette's family and then headed off to Nauvoo on Monday. We arrived about 2 in the aftenoon and it was only open until 4. I really wanted to see the inside of the Nauvoo temple but we didn't have much time and Keva was with us so we didn't want to abandon her too long. I had two female names that needed iniatory so Cammie and I went in and each did one name for iniatory. It was a sweet experience and the spirit is very strong in this temple. I can't wait to go back and have an opportunity to do a session - next time. Afterwards we visited a couple of sites and then headed over to the Joseph Smith sites run by the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized LDS). We were priviliged to have a wonderful guide for the last tour of the day (She was an LDS returned missionary) - I know strange huh? She was very knowledgeable and really added a great spirit to the tour. Being the last tour of the day she let us into areas that you didn't usually get to see, like hidden hiding places in the house where Joseph would hide when others came looking for him for assorted reasons. After that we headed over to the outdoor theatre and saw a variety show put on by young and older missionaries who had just finished up the pageant in July. It was a great show with lots of fun. There was one guy that looked an awful lot like Geordan so I took his picture. We think Geordan should do this next summer it looked like alot of fun. Then we heard a Jazz concert by the BYU Jazz band. All good and a wonderful little stop on our road trip.

On Tuesday we headed to visit Cammie's sister for a few hours and then Kyle and Tami for the evening. Unfortunately Uncle Kyle was in Hong Kong, but we had a great visit with Tami and the kids. Tami took us to downtown Naperville for some traditional Chicago Pizza - soooo good. And their house, well what can we say Kevin's Lexus looked right at home there.

Wednesday we began the long journey home which took us two long days - we made a quick stop in Omaha to see Winter Quarters, but otherwise drove all day and alot of the nights. We had a great trip and wish we had had time to sight see a little more - maybe next time.

Home one day and then turned around and went to the Manti temple for our wards "Day in Heaven". There were quite a few there doing baptisms, sealings, and endowments. It is a beautiful temple and we had a wonderful time with our ward family.

                      A beautiful home in Naperville, Illinois.  Thanks for letting us drop by.

Geordan's Look-Alike

The bugs attracted to the lights during the Jazz Band Concert

Pizza at Lou Malnati's a famous Chicago Deep Dish Pizza Place

Looking over the Mississippi River from the steps of the Nauvoo Temple

And here we are the summer is almost over - and only 3 more days until Alex gets home - that will be the next post. Also we hope to move next week. We are just moving next door and will have a year lease, so no more showing the house. Life is great, all my family will be here this weekend, how could it be any better

Priorities and the Temple

[print_link]  I have been contemplating priorities over the last few days.  It is difficult for me to understand how active members of the church see things so differently.  One of these is temple attendance.  It seems there is a wide degree of difference among members as to what is expected of us concerning temple attendance.  On the one hand you have my mother who works at the temple one day a week and attends the temple another day a week.  She has failing eyesight and the drive is generally 45 minutes away.  To me she has her priorities straight; she has plenty of time, but failing health makes it difficult for her but not impossible for her to attend the temple regularly.  There are many challenges that keep us from the temple; children, distance, cost, time, etc.  No matter what stage of life we are in Satan tries his best to keep us from attending the temple.  Everyone faces this challenge in one way or another.  How do we overcome it?  What is expected of us?  Is it okay to attend the temple once or twice a year?  What does attend the temple regularly mean?  I often run into those who say that the cost and distance to attend the temple makes it almost impossible (we live 4 hours from the temple), my concern is that often I see these same people with cell phones with data plans or eating out or other accessories that are nice but not necessary (at least in my opinion).  Granted it is costly to attend the temple - gas, food, etc.  I remember when we were a young married couple living in Provo, UT.  We had a desire to go to the temple regularly (at least monthly) - but our funds were very limited.  Distance wasn't a problem but paying for babysitting, renting our clothing, often kept us from going as often as we felt we should. 
  I guess the point of all this is what do you think the Lord expects of us concerning temple attendance.  I understand that the answer will be different for each of us.  Our stage of life, economic circumstances, distance from the temple, etc. all come in to play.  Do you feel that we will be judged according to how we have made the temple a priority in our lives?  Are there other ways to make it a priority without attending?
  Personally I feel its a matter of priority.  If we make it a priority we will find a way to attend as often as we can and we will be blessed in other ways for that attendance.

I'm trying!

Currently I have the privilege of serving as the Stake Relief Society President.  This is not a calling I ever imagined having or really understood.  I was called back in October and I am still trying to get my bearings on what is involved in the calling.  We just finished all the ward and branch conferences for the year, and that has been very helpful.  We were able to get around and meet all or most of the sisters serving in Relief Society.  I know as I have served in different capacities in the wards; I didn't really feel a need to have assistance from Stake leaders.  We were happy to see them when they visited our wards, and appreciated the training they gave at auxiliary training meetings.  But is that it?  Is that all there is to this calling?  I think about the Stake President and all of his responsibilities, and I think about the General Relief Society Presidency and all of their responsibilities.  How do I serve in a way that my service will have a purpose or help those who I have stewardship over?
Well this calling is usually a three year calling, so hopefully by the time it is finished I can report back and see where I was able to serve the Lord and the sisters of the Ely Nevada Stake.  I will be attending a training in Salt Lake next week, so I hope to glean a few things there, and I have started a Stake blog, to hopefully keep in touch with more sisters.  (it's in its infant stage and will go out to the sisters in a few weeks with spotlights of the new presidency and then soon other sisters throughout the stake http://elynevadastakereliefsociety.blogspot.com/) If anyone has any suggestions as to how I can better fulfill this calling - please let me know.  The only other time I had a Stake Calling was as a Women's Sports director, and I loved it, because I was able to get to know sisters outside of my immediate ward - this is one of my major goals this time as well - although I find it out of my comfort zone to introduce myself to others and sit by people I don't know, but I'm trying.
I do love Relief Society and have served in various callings there.  I have been a teacher, Homemaking Leader, Enrichment Leader, and Meeting Coordinator (all the same calling - but called different things, different times), Relief Society chorister (my first RS calling back in 1982), counselor in the presidency, once as 1st couns., and twice as 2nd counselor, Relief Society Ward President, and now Stake Relief Society President.  I have served in almost every capacity, except Visiting Teaching Supervisor or coordinator, and secretary - who knows one of those might be next.  I have learned to love Relief Society through my service and am grateful to see my daughters also having opportunities to be in Relief Society and to develop a love for it.
I know this is kind of a strange journal entry, but as I have read things my grandmothers have left, I have been interested to see where they have served in the church.

Tender Mercies

Today in sacrament meeting I bore my testimony on the tender mercies of the Lord.  I feel that its important for us to recognize the blessings the Lord gives us in our lives.  Some of them are very small; and some can be life changing.  For instance this last week we received notice that our rent was going to be raised - the tender mercy was that we also received notice several days before that, that we were receiving a bonus and a raise very soon.  So to me the tender mercy was that we received the positive news before the negative.  Also April and Everett found themselves stuck in Hong Kong because of passport difficulties and saw several tender mercies, first she was able to reach and old companion who took her to church, and then a kind bishop took them in and helped them apply for a temporary visa as well as careing for them for several days.  We never know how certain events in our lives will be a blessing to us later - such as April's mission.  Another sister in the ward told today how she was unable to get pregnant the first 4 years of her marriage, and what a difficult time it was, but later she counted it as a blessing that she was able to finish her education and in later years when she became a single mom she had a career that she could fall back on.  Sometimes it may be difficult to recognize the Lord's blessings in our lives, when they don't seem in line with our plan - but when we turn things over to the Lord and we let it be His plan we will be heading in the right direction.  For now be sure and notice the small tender mercies of the Lord in your lives.

Unusual Temple Trip

Saturday we decided to head into Provo to go to the temple and to check out Alex's apartment for the Fall.  We almost didn't go, because the weather was suppose to be horrible, but the more I checked it sounded like it would be light snow with rain and we decided to take the 4 wheel drive and chance it.  The way there was mostly rain and we had no problems.  We did a few errands and then headed to the temple.  Provo is always a very busy temple, so we opted to do sealings when we saw a sign at the entrance desk as we figured we wouldn't have to wait so long.  I even had a few names with me that were ready for sealings to parents that Trevor and I had submitted.
  We had a very nice sealer and things were going well.   We were the first couple and did a couple sealing and then proceeded to do our family names.  I really felt a strong spirit and hoped that some of these names have accepted the gospel on the other side.
  Others took their turn and a short while later the lights went out - yes all over the temple.  We opened the door so it wasn't quite so dark and waited.  The sealer said this had never happened before - the storm wasn't excessive- and no one seemed to know why it happened.  One of the other couples with us became upset as they had flown in from Atlanta to do some family names with their son (who was attending BYU; I presume).  I suggested maybe we could continue with a flashlight and the sealer said he thought there were some in the office.  He left and came back with one and said we would go forward and the light would be restored soon.
We continued and were able to complete the family names and a few others- the lights did come on, but it helped me reflect a little on light and how we can obtain it.
Sometimes the darkness could symbolize the world around us that makes it hard to focus on the things of God, but if we can just find the light or the flashlight and turn it on (the seeds of the Gospel) - the path is much clearer - although the darkness is still all around us and if we lose our focus it is easy to lose our way, and just like before the lights went out we knew the plan just like in heaven and eventually just as the lights came back on in the temple - we too will have an opportunity to meet Jesus Christ and have all the light illuminated to us.  For now we must be ever watchful that we keep our flashlights bright - that we keep our batteries charged - and that we focus on those things that will help us return to our Heavenly Father where we can be a Family Together Forever.  There can be no greater joy in this life or the next!
  I love my family so much.  I have been blessed beyond measure.  You all bring joy in my life and help me want to live the Gospel.

Journal entry

Well my weekly journal entries are a little behind.  Not that I haven't thought about them, just that Sunday's have been so busy and I have been working Mondays.  Today is my first morning home so I am trying to catch up a little.

A few weeks ago I was reading the last conference Ensign and was reading a talk by Elder Richard G. Scott entitled The Transforming Power of Faith and Character.  I thought this talk was so profound.  It really helped me to understand that by living the Gospel each day we build our faith and our character.  Some quotes that I really liked are:
"Faith and character are intimately related. Faith in the power of obedience to the commandments of God will forge strength of character available to you in times of urgent need."
"Your exercise of faith in true principles builds character; fortified character expands your capacity to exercise more faith.  As a result, your capacity and confidence to conquer the trials of life is enhanced.  The more your character is fortified, the more enabled you are to benefit from exercising the power of faith."
And my favorite:
"We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day.  Righteous character is a precious manifestation of what you are becoming."

When I was younger I struggled alot with feeling that I never measure up to what I should be doing.  Yes I strived to live the Gospel, but at heart I feel that I was too lazy and selfish to really do all that the Lord requires of me.  One day I was teaching Relief Society on a subject I don't remember, but several times I discussed my short comings.  Afterwards a sister came up to me (She was probably 15 years older than I was, and had only been active in the church for 5 years or so, I believe) she said to me:  "If you think you have no hope, then what hope is there for the rest of us?"  This one statement helped me more than anything else.  It really made me contemplate where I was on the road back to my Heavenly Father.  Was I one of the valiant?  Was I doing my best?  After this I started to give myself a little mercy.  I realized that although there was always room for improvement I was trying to live the Gospel, and no I wasn't perfect, but the Lord knew my heart and my intentions even if I didn't get around to doing all of them. 
   I don't think this sister will ever know that her one statement helped me so much those 10 - 15 years ago, but it truly did.  Elder Scott's talk further helps me to want to strive to rid myself of unchristlike attributes and do my best to live the Gospel and become what I truly want to be.

Junior High and all that torture!

I just finished reading a wonderful YA novel titled The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt. It is a wonderful book, and definitely on my must read list. As I’m reading it though I think junior high is never really like this, and I tried to recall what my junior high experience was like and then I could see that yes with a little exaggeration and some well told stories that even I had junior high anecdotes worth repeating. As I am not an author I will just mention a few of these I was reminded of – perhaps you have some you could share as well – or have things changed since I went to school?


First of all it was called Orr Junior High School and our mascot wasn’t an animal but an Orion (a constellation of stars that looks like, The Hunter, from Greek Mythology). Yes a little strange in its own right.

Much of what I remember happening was when I was in 7th grade and my brother Rick was attending 8th grade. For the most part we walked the halls as though we didn’t even know one another. I remember finding him in the lunch room kissing, I believe the tallest girl in school – yes right there in front of everyone, I was horrified to say the least. (Did I ever tell, of course not, that was just who he was – the popular guy.) Of course that wasn’t me, I was the person that tried to fade into the walls, not be too well known, but not to be the one that got picked on either. Sadly there was a slightly mentally handicapped girl in our school who was tormented unmercifully. We had PE together and almost daily the girls tortured her by spraying her locker full of her clothes and things with deodorant, stealing her towel (yes we had to shower after exercising or at least pretend to), or just being plain mean to her. Looking back I wish I had the guts to stand by her side, but we all knew we would be the brunt of the bullies as well if we ever did anything like that. Then there were the junior high dances. Mostly we just hung out with friends and had a good time. One time I was kidding around with my friend Freddy – now Freddy was black, or African American as we say these days- and we were just friends, although at home my brother liked to tease me that I had a black boyfriend. Well one night at the junior high dance I went up to Freddy and gave him a little kick and then I took off and he took off after me, well all my brother saw was that he was after me and all the sudden there he was holding Freddy by the shirt and telling him to leave his sister alone! Wow I didn’t even know he claimed me – but I rushed in and assured him that I started it and we were just kidding around and to let him down gently. This he did and he and his entourage sauntered off. I was embarrassed, but most impressed that I had a brother who would stand up for me!

When I think about the teachers only a couple stand out – there was Mr. Ironside (names have been changed because I no longer remember). If you are old enough to know who Ironsides is then you’ll know why that’s his nickname. Mr. Ironside was the Social Studies teacher and he was in a wheelchair, he seemed older than the hills, and there were rumor’s that he could pop wheelies in his wheelchair, although I never saw it – my brother says he did though. I don’t remember much about his teaching, but he did seem a little scary to me. Then there was my English teacher, who for some reason took a liking to me – don’t know why since English has never been my strong suit- and gave me a paperback book one day out of the blue. He said he knew I was a Christian and thought I might like it “Two from Gailee” – one of my favorite books, and I still have the copy he gave me.

As this happened in the early 70’s there were some not so pleasant memories as well. Integration had begun only the year before in Las Vegas and there were still some prejudices abounding. It seemed that colors ran in packs. One day at lunch my friends and I were walking around outside when this group of black girls found us (I don’t remember what started the whole thing), but we took off running looking for an open door. When we finally found one it was in the English area and we ran inside and ran into the bathroom – with me bringing up the rear- and slammed the door closed. Well apparently they were right on our heels, because momentarily they pushed their way into the bathroom and one of them proceeded to tell me (the last one in) that I had slammed the door on her knee and caused it to bleed. Picture this if you will there’s her and her pack standing close behind her, and then there’s me across from her and then a few feet back are my friends up against the wall as far away as possible. She’s yelling at me and telling me that I have to lick the blood off of her knee and who knows what else. All I remember is thankfully I was saved by the bell, as it was time to go to class. After that we didn’t hang around outside for a while, and perhaps that is why I became one of the fastest runners over the next couple of years.

Things at home were not much better during this time. I remember for my brother Kyle’s birthday we went to see “Jaws”. After that I was terrified of sharks and my brothers knew it (these are my three younger brothers now). I couldn’t even read the novel of Jaws that everyone was reading at school because I couldn’t stand to touch the shark on the front of the book. My brothers found this out somehow and they chased me around the house with this book that had a drawing of a shark inside it. I know this seems really stupid to be afraid of a drawing, but it gets worse. One day when they were chasing me around the house I ran in the bathroom and locked the door. They shoved the book under the door, because they knew even that would scare me to death. When I finally got up enough courage to pick up the book I hid it behind the hamper in the bathroom. Afterwards they asked me what I did with it and I told them I flushed it down the toilet. Now mind you I hadn’t done this, but it made them stop looking for it, the only problem is now my mind had this vision of a shark in the pipes in our home. Every time I took a shower I watched for Jaws to come up through the drain. Every time I used the toilet I expected Jaws to come up and bite me – you know where. Amazing the power of the mind, I could really do myself in with it.

Well I guess that is most of what I remember about junior high except of course all the dances we learned in PE like the Virginia Reel, Hava Nagilia, etc. – When are we ever going to use those again? All in all I survived and went on to high school, where I was a much smaller fish in a much bigger pond and faded into the walls even better, or at least found my niche in the music department.

History of Relief Society

What do you think of when you hear the History of Relief Society?  I think of a small group of women in pioneer times, sitting around quilting, making shirts for the temple workers, canning, etc.  We are also reminded that Joseph Smith would come and teach the Relief Society about spiritual things.  Although this is history there has been alot of history created between then and now.  I don't remember ever being afraid of going to Relief Society - although I was still 17 when I went to college so I didn't attend a home ward until sometime later.  My mother set a great example for me, it seemed that she loved Relief Society.  I remember as a young girl going to Relief Society work days.  The sisters would quilt or possibly other projects and we kids just had a great time playing together.  Then we would eat - I remember that being my least favorite part - it seemed all they liked to eat were SALADS.  I remember my mom making a few crafts or at least we had them in our home, like "glass grapes", but most of all I remember the service she rendered to others through Relief Society.  I have served about half of my married life in Relief Society callings and have been blessed beyond measure.  I have improved upon the skills and talents that the Lord has given me through Relief Society - some of these include woodworking, writing plays, cooking, sewing, and teaching.  I am truly grateful for the heritage of Relief Society that I have been blessed with.  I am grateful to see my daughters who carry on this heritage of loving Relief Society. 
I am excited to study the history of Relief Society throughout the year.  Sister Beck gave a wonderful talk on the importance of the history of Relief Society.  "We study our history to learn who we are. There is a worldwide hunger among good women to know their identity, value, and importance. Studying and applying the history of Relief Society gives definition and expression to who we are as disciples and followers of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Our faithfulness and service are signs of our conversion and commitment to remember and follow Him." Ensign November 2010
I tried to think of one incident where Relief Society has blessed my life, but there are many, from a loving visiting teacher who came over on my birthday and arranged to have my children help her clean my house, to a Relief Society president who lovingly helped me fill out a food order, to the wonderful friends I have made through visiting teaching.  I am grateful that the Lord understood the needs of women and provided this wonderful organization that helps me fulfill my role of wife, mother, and daughter of God.

Beginnings...

Our Relief Society has given us a challenge to journal at least once a week.  I am better at posting than I am at journaling, so I have chosen to use my blog as a once a week journal or faith promoting experience if I have nothing special to journal about.  Hopefully this way my children will have experiences written down by their mother that will help them and their children know that I have a testimony of my Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ.
This morning I was reading in the scriptures about small and simple things, and how great things are brought to pass, and yesterday we had a lesson on keeping the Sabbath Day Holy.  This reminded me of an experience I had many years ago, when Selina was about 12 years old.  Her and I were headed to Choir practice one afternoon following church.  As we left I realized we had hardly any gas in the big orange van.  I told her we would need to stop and get gas.  She reminded me it was sunday and that the Lord would provide us enough gas to get to and from choir practice.  I decided we would do our best not to get gas.  We made it to choir practice fine, (it was at the Warm Springs Stake Center), but on the way back about 1/2 way home the van died.  I proceeded to switch tanks and the van started up and we went about 50 feet when it again died.  Again I switched tanks and the same thing happened.  We continued in this manner for several miles until we made it home - mostly uphill).  Now I don't know about you, but any other time I have run out of gas (and I have had my share of those experiences) the car might start once, but never more than that.   Later as we were talking about faith in gospel doctrine I related this experience and what I observed is that the scriptures talk about us having the faith of a little child - and here was Selina who had complete faith in the things she had been taught and then there was me who because of the trials of life and seeing that things don't always come out the way we pray for or expect - my complete faith had some doubting in it.  Did I still believe in my Savior Jesus Christ?  Of course and those trials had strengthened that, but they had also weakened my faith that God would always provide when I felt I needed it. (notice the "I" parts)  I think having faith, nothing doubting is the hardest part, and yet the Lord expects it of us.  I do believe that we must do our part for it to be in effect.  For instance I had doubts because I should have prepared for the Sabbath by filling my gas tank on Saturday. The thing I have learned most is that the Lord knows the intents of our hearts and even when we don't always do all that we could, he knows us and loves us and blesses when we do enough!!